Windsor and eton.

1. Do you know that Windsor is one of the most popular towns in England for foreigners? Why? Because the Queen often stays here at her castle and because Windsor itself is one of the oldest towns in England. The people in Windsor always know when the Queen is at the castle be-cause a special flag is put up to tell everybody about it.

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2. The river at Windsor is not as wide and busy as it is in London. There are no big cargo ships sailing away to other countries and there are no big bridges with thousands of cars and buses crossing them every day. Instead, there are rowing boats on the river, canoes, and sailing yachts. Windsor, in fact, is a very good place to go if you are interested in boats.

3. A mile up the river Thames from Windsor is the little town of Eton. The most important building here is Eton College – one of England’s best known public schools (English state schools give free education, but some people like to send their children to a public school, although they have to pay). It was founded by King Henry VI in 1440, when he was only eighteen. Today, there are about a thousand boys at the school. Because Eton is so popular it is very difficult for parents to get a place for their sons there. So some parents put their sons’ names on the waiting list while they are still babies!

Notes:

cargo ship – грузовое судно

rowing boat – лодка с вёслами.

Britain and the world

1. What is the Commonwealth? It is a group of former British colo-nies together with six countries, which are still British. Britain, because it is an island, has always been forced to have good trading relations with other countries. During the nineteenth century, Britain traded all over the world and had a large colonial Empire. Britain’s international links with the Commonwealth today are still based on the Empire, although the Commonwealth now works to encourage good cultural relations between members.

2. The present members of the Commonwealth have many different styles of government. Some of the countries, such as Canada, are monar-chies and recognize the Queen as their Head of State; others, such as India, are republics, and choose their own Heads of State; some countries, such as the Falkland Islands, are British colonies and rely on Britain for de-fense. All of the countries recognize the Queen as the Head of the Com-monwealth.

3. After the Second World War, Britain still believed it was a world power. In fact, Britain had no money. After 1956, Britain knew it could

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not rely on America. In 1963, Britain realized it had to join the Common Market, but its application was not accepted. It was only in 1973 that Brit-ain was allowed to become a member.

4. Now over half of Britain’s trade is with the EU. About half of Brit-ish people believe that Britain needs Europe because it offers British com-panies a market of over 350 million people to buy its products. Britain also needs Europe so that it can buy food, clothes and fuel, which it does not produce. Other people think that Britain has always been separate from Europe, that it is an island and should try to keep its differences.

5. Britain and the USA had for many years what was called a “Spe-cial Relationship”. They were allies in both World Wars and in the Korean War. In recent years, however, they have not always supported each other. The USA did not help Britain and France during the Suez crisis in 1956. Britain did not support the USA in the 1964-73 Vietnam War. Both Presi-dent Bush and President Clinton have announced that Germany is now the most important ally of the USA.